Konnishiwa!!!!!
In 2010 I was invited to tour American Department of Defense schools on U.S. military bases across Japan. It was a month long tour that took me from the island of Kyushu, in the south, to the top of Honshu island (the main island). I did not get to Okinawa or the northern-most island of Hokkaido.
It was funded by the P.T.O.s of the schools and covered twelve days of school visits at eight schools. What a wonderful experience! I can’t possibly do it justice with one page of photos. But I thought I’d post a few here so you get a “taste of the tour.”
Enjoy!
Shutta with a young fan who was the proud caregiver for M.C. Perry School’s rubber chicken mascot.
The “Chicken Shack!” in Iwakuni. We were treated to a wonderful meal in our own tea room here. No shack! Gorgeous.
The famous Kentaikyu Bridge outside Iwakuni. The center section was built without nails so it could be pulled down if necessary during a raid. On the mountain top is the Kentai Castle.
A bullet train What a great way to travel!
Red torii gate in Hakone. Wherever there is a gate there is a shrine or temple.
An elder statesman of a tree in Hakone.
Billie Dysinger (one of my hostesses) and me at the Sadako Memorial in Hiroshima. Behind us in the glass cubicles are just a few of the hundreds of thousands of folded cranes sent by school children from all over the world.
The Hiroshima Dome stands as a stark reminder of the horror that happened here.
Temple in Kamakura we visited while at the naval base in Yokusuka.
A small sweet statuary in temple grounds in Kamakura.
The giant Buddha in Kamakura. Wow! And visitors can go inside it as well.
A traditional wedding on the Meji Temple grounds.
Just one of the many beautiful kimonos seen whenever we came upon a special occasion such as a wedding.
Assorted fresh catch from sea urchins to octopus.
Handy vending machines are everywhere! This one offers fresh eggs.
Gerry with a VERY BIG kite on Boy’s Day. (In Zama.)
We caught up with the cherry blossoms while at the air force facility in Misawa. These are just outside of Japan’s oldest Kabuki theater in the north of Honshu.
Carp kites flying in Tokyo in honor of Boy’s Day. (Traditionally, one is flown for each male child. Now-a-days, a kite is flown for each child.)
A wonderful dragon at a temple along the Oirase Gorge. Surely, one of the most beautful areas of Japan! A river drains in a series of waterfalls from Lake Towada . . . a double caldera lake high in the mountains of northern Honshu.
A view of one of the two lesser “Fujis” of the north.
Tokyo at night. In the distance is the spire of the Tokyo Tower lit with golden light.